Where do our rights come from?

In every country, in every treatise, in every essay and every thought on human freedom, the question emerges: where do our rights come from? Each time you watch television in America and the host of the program refers to the right of free speech, or the right to bear arms, he or she assumes the origin of those rights, which are spelled out in the Constitution and its Amendments. In the United Nations Charter, every person on earth is guaranteed “life, liberty and security of person” by signatories of the Charter. Most famously, John Locke declared more aptly that humans are all entitled to life, liberty and property. Regardless, one must examine the root of all these thoughts before determining where rights come from.

One very common claim, especially in the United States, is that God secures our rights. Unfortunately, there is no sound proof that there is a God, let alone that he grants us rights. Beside not clearly stating what our rights are, he also conveniently leaves it to us to enforce them. Men violate rights which are guaranteed by some religions, but not others. Even in states where God’s laws rule, like Sharia in some Muslim nations, violations can occur and go unpunished. Finally, we can and do create rights without any deity’s sanction, and in fact America’s separation of church and state requires that we do so to protect those who do not defer to the Almighty. Since there is no way to either adequately discern or enforce any human rights God may endorse, we must remove them from discussion of where our legal rights as American citizens derive.

Another common argument, also seen from early in American political discourse, is the idea of natural rights. Having natural rights implies that simply being born a human being guarantees that we are endowed with special privileges and ‘inalienable’ qualities; however, what rights of nature cannot be violated? Which rights are guaranteed? Certainly an American in Yosemite alone for a week is not protected by natural rights from starving, drowning or being eaten or mauled. Even the idea of justice has no bearing on the natural world, as revenge, retribution and punishment are essentially unknown to any animal but man. Why, then, do we claim that rights are natural?

The truth, then, is that we made rights up. Humans created rights. They are a product of our sense of obligation, of right and wrong, of preference. The law of man is violable, though, just as the laws of a god are. Erase the law, and you erase the right. Laws are dangerous: they are subjective, opinionated, biased in every way. None of our rights exist a priori, and none are guaranteed, except by collectively enforcing them.